Media

Congressional reporter for conservative IJR resigns

by Joe Concha - 03/16/17 7:16 PM ET

The congressional reporter for the conservative Independent Journal Review (IJR) resigned Thursday due to a dispute with the publication’s editorial direction, according to a report.

Sources told Politico that Joe Perticone believed his credibility as a reporter was damaged by the behavior of other IJR writers, particularly in a story about President Obama published Thursday. The story drew a connection between former President Obama’s recent visit to his home state and frequent vacation spot of Hawaii and a Hawaiian federal judge’s ruling blocking President Trump’s revised travel ban.

{mosads}The story, which has since been pulled from the site, attempted to connect Obama’s visit and U.S. District Court Judge Derrick Watson, who attended Harvard the same time as Obama, from 1988 to 1991. The story also pointed out that Obama ate at a restaurant in Hawaii close to the federal courthouse that Watson presided in.

The story was removed a few hours later.

On Thursday, Perticone resigned, following more than 10 staffers that have left the IJR in the past year. The Hill has reached out to Perticone for comment.

The site was also thrust into the spotlight earlier this week when it was revealed that its Erin McPike was the only reporter chosen by the State Department to travel with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on an overseas trip to Asia.

The decision to only bring McPike resulted in several complaints from the foreign policy press upon learning of the decision via press reports and not from State Department officials.

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